Currently, users may employ client devices such as personal computers (PCs), PDA's, smartphones, etc. with access to wide area networks, e.g., the Internet, to share content from various online services. Using a PC, a user may access content and services including, but not limited to, music and video downloads, photo sharing, and information access, e.g., news, weather, sports, financial content, etc. Additionally, providers of content and services allow users to create personal profiles to indicate preferences with regarding to the content and services that they wish to receive, as well as from communities of users for the exchange of content and services.
In addition to the growth in the use of networked personal computing devices, there has also been significant growth in the deployment of local area networks that provide computing devices with access to wide area networks, for example, a local area network within the home connected to a wide area network such as the Internet to provide computing devices within the home with access to the Internet in addition to local resources. Similarly, there has been significant growth in the deployment of media access devices, such as digital media adapters, set-top boxes, Internet appliances, etc., which are also connected to local area networks. There is currently no way, however, to extend access to content and services from a variety of sources to popular media access devices in a seamless manner. Furthermore, there are no systems or techniques for extending access to content and services from a variety of source while retaining user preferences and community identity.
Accordingly, there is a need for systems, methods and frameworks for providing access to content and services located on a local network, a content and service provider's system on a wide area network, or a third party system on a wide area network from arbitrary devices attached to a network and in communication with a wide area network. There is a further need to provide access to such content and services while retaining user preferences and community identity.